A Newcastle laser eye surgeon has been charged with solicitation to commit murder on allegations that he attempted to hire a hit man to kill two colleagues.

In charges filed Monday, King County prosecutors claim Dr. Michael Emeric Mockovak spent months attempting to arrange the killing of the co-owner of his business, Clearly Lasik, as well as a former president of the Renton-based company. Prosecutors gave the following details in court documents.

An investigation into Mockovak was launched in April after an employee contacted a family friend working for the FBI's Portland office, according to court documents.

The informant, a Ukrainian immigrant, told investigators that Mockovak had asked him in early 2008 if he had any contacts in the "Russian mafia" who could arrange to have Clearly Lasik's former president Brad Klock killed. Mockovak, the man told police, was enraged that Klock had filed a civil suit challenging his firing.

Months later, Mockovak again approached the employee and suggested that Klock could be "eliminated" during an upcoming trip to Germany.

As months passed, Mockovak shifted his aim to a different target -- Clearly Lasik co-owner Dr. Joseph King. Mockovak and King, who were in-laws living within blocks of each other in Newcastle, had a falling out after Mockovak divorced King's sister-in-law and were in the process of splitting the business.

"I hate people taking advantage of me," Mockovak allegedly told his employee, according to prosecutors' claims. "If (he) becomes a stumbling block maybe we can look at him."

At an FBI agent's suggestion, the informant told Mockovak a childhood friend had connections in the Russian mob who would kill King for $25,000. After dismissing the idea of a staged carjacking, Mockovak allegedly suggested hitmen drown King during a family vacation in Australia.

Meeting the informant at the Starfire Sports Soccer Complex in Tukwila on Nov. 7, Mockovak delivered an envelope containing $10,000 -- the agreed down payment for the hit -- as well as a "nearly poster-size photo" of King, Seattle Police Detective Len Carver said in court documents.

Asked how he planned to pay the remaining $15,000, Mockovak allegedly said he would make a large purchase on the Internet to launder the funds, prosecutors claim. The informant then told Mockovak he was probably "gonna be the first person to charge a murder on a credit card," prompting a laugh from Mockovak.

"(The doctor) told the informant that he has thought about it, and he is certain he wants (his business partner) murdered," Senior Deputy Prosecutor Susan K. Storey said in court documents, adding that Mockovak believed his colleague had "it coming" and that killing him was "the only way."

Police arrested Mockovak at his home on Thursday, and was released Saturday after posting $1 million bail. He is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in King County Superior Court on two counts of solicitation to commit first-degree murder.